“We will bring this up with the chief minister and the Cabinet,” said Yong who is responsible for City Hall. “We do not want this (illegal kiosks) to sprout in other shopping centres.”

Illegal kiosks create trouble for the people and local authorities, he told the Borneo Post.

He was briefing the media on the sidelines of the “My City, My Responsibility” programme for the city-level National Environmental Day Celebration 2016 on Sunday.

Yong was responding to Likas assemblyman Junz Wong, who asked the state government to explain the status of illegal kiosks at the 1Borneo Hypermall.

Wong was adamant that the illegal kiosks be dismantled, adding that the law must be upheld.

City Hall will study all documentation on the illegal kiosks, Yong said, while the demolition is put on hold.

Those who bought the illegal kiosks may want to contact the sellers on the status of their purchases.

“This is between the buyer and seller,” Wong said, adding it had nothing to do with City Hall.

“Those who bought the illegal kiosks can take legal action against the sellers.”

The assistant minister did not rule out the possibility the buyers may not have known that City Hall had yet to approve the Development Plan (DP) for the kiosks. “They are the real victims,” said Yong.

He said the “real victims” paid the developer or the management to buy non-existent kiosks. It was a nightmare especially for pensioners who invested all their life savings into the purchase.

Yong pointed out the DP had not gone through City Hall’s Planning Unit and its Technical Committee.

The fact sheets on the kiosks showed 118 kiosks at the hypermall with 11 rented out by the management and 107 sold to various operators.

“Now, the operators want to add another 260 kiosks when the DP for the additional kiosks have not been approved yet.”

City Hall issued a notice of demolition on August 1 but met with the affected kiosk owners on September 1.